Welcome to the “Green and Pleasant Land” (G&PL) of my timeline. This is an alternative path of events in the development of transport on land, sea and in the air in my country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Here is the link to the thread for this timeline in the discussion forum
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=57544
First of all you should look at the timeline, this you can see in two formats. I prefer the version in the pdf file enclosed. The timeline itself is obviously incomplete. I am still looking into the best way to present this on the Forum as I want the comparison between OTL and G&PL to be visible. This will grow and fill in as the timeline develops but the entries in OTL will always be genuine and to the best of my knowledge correct.
G&PL Timeline Table.pdf
G&PL Timeline Table.pdf
GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND (or how it could have been)
An alternative timeline based on transport in the United Kingdom of Great Britain
1948
G&PL
Formation of British Transport Commission
OTL
Formation of British Transport Commission.
1949
G&PL
First test train of the 0-6-6-0-T Bullied Leader class locomotive.
OTL
Only test train of the 0-6-6-0-T Bullied Leader
class locomotive.
1951
G&PL
BR Standard design locomotives introduced. Standardisation across rail system implemented.
OTL
BR Standard design locomotives introduced. Standardisation across rail system attempted.
1953
G&PL
Executive barriers to the integration of the transport systems removed completely. London Transport coming in the Commission's brief.
OTL
Executive barriers to the integration of the transport systems removed apart from the London Transport Executive.
1955
G&PL
Road Haulage assets standardised in system. Fifteen year rail modernisation begun. Multifuel (granulated coal, fuel oil and gas) fired boilers developed driving turbine motors. New rolling stock developed. Permanent way and signalling upgraded.
OTL
Road haulage assets denationalised. Fifteen year rail modernisation begun. Electrification of principle main lines. Introduction of Diesel locomotives. New rolling stock developed. Permanent way and renovated signalling upgraded
1956
G&PL
Fear of Middle East oil embargo after Suez stimulates extensive renovation of waterways and existing oil pipelines are extended.
OTL
Commission takes no action after Suez.
1958
G&PL
Less efficient design locomotives replaced by new build post war designs. Second generation locomotives begin to come into service. Passenger trains using articulated carriages and driving cab on the rear tested and start to enter service. More inland waterways are opened up and coastal shipping increased.
OTL
Mass withdrawal of pre-grouping locomotives begun. Electrification of the West Coast main line begun using the French A/C overhead system despite having already spent large sums on their own D/C system ten years ago. Preston bypass opens as Britain's first dedicated motorway.
1960
G&PL
Newly renovated and widened canals increase their goods traffic.
OTL
First 72 miles of M1 motorway open.
1959
G&PL
Standardisation of all permanent ways begun.
OTL
Closure of permanent ways begun.
1962
G&PL
Commission starts to negotiate for the inclusion
of aerial transport in its brief.
OTL
Commission is abolished.
1969
G&PL
First flight of Concorde
OTL
First flight of Concorde
1994
G&PL
Channel tunnel opened.
OTL
Channel tunnel openedNext of all I would like to briefly introduce the major player in G&PL the relatively short lived,in OTL, British Transport Commission. This was a real organisation set up by the post war Labour Government of Clement Attlee in order to implement the policies of the Transport Act 1947 it's brief was to provide "an efficient, adequate, economical and properly integrated system of public inland transport and port facilities within Great Britain for passengers and goods", excluding transport by air.
There was a separate organisation for Northern Ireland the Ulster Transport Authority. As the G&PL timeline develops the status of this may change, I don't know yet.
Its role was to ensure that policies were implemented and it was one of the largest industrial organisations in the world, at one time employing nearly 688,000 people. At first, the Commission did not directly operate transport services: these were the responsibility of the Commission's Executives. These were separately appointed, and operated under what were termed 'schemes of delegation'. The Act provided for five Executives, covering Docks & Inland Waterways, Hotels, London Transport, Railways, and Road Transport. The Railway Executive traded as “British Railways”. In 1949, Road Transport was divided into separate Road Haulage and Road Passenger Executives, though the latter proved short-lived.
Other activities of the Commission were-
Advertising: British Transport Advertising sold space on premises and vehicles
Buses: the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the BTC in September 1948, as did the Red and White Group in 1950. Midland General buses and trolleybuses were transferred by the British Electricity Authority. From the railway companies, the BTC also inherited non-controlling interests in many bus companies in the British Electric Traction Group. It also manufactured buses for its own use, through the subsidiaries Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works. In London and the surrounding area, the BTC ran both the (red) London buses and the (green) country buses, including Green Line Coaches.
Docks: British Transport Docks (today known as Associated British Ports), comprising 32 ports taken over from the railway companies
Films: the BTC had its own film production company, British Transport Films
Hotels & Catering: the former railway hotels and catering departments, later re-organised as British Transport Hotels
Museums: The BTC inherited the LNER's Railway Museum at York and appointed a Curator of Historical Relics to build up a national collection. Eventually, much of this collection was displayed at the Museum of British Transport at Clapham, south London. This closed in the early 1970's and was superseded by the National Railway Museum at York and the London Transport Museum (now in Covent Garden). The BTC also established the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum.
Police: the British Transport Police was formed chiefly by the amalgamation of the various railway constabularies
Railways: British Railways, including ancillary activities like engineering workshops, and London Underground. The former LMS lines in Northern Ireland (see Northern Counties Committee) were sold to the Ulster Transport Authority in 1949.
Road Haulage: the local road distribution networks of the pre-nationalisation rail companies, plus the removals company Pickfords, which the railways had owned jointly. To these were added numerous smaller independent concerns taken over at nationalisation, comprising all undertakings predominantly engaged in ordinary long-distance work for distances of 40 miles or upwards. These networks were later re-organised as British Road Services (BRS).
Shipping: the former railway steamer services, primarily to France and Ireland and around the Scottish coast, and investments in Associated Humber Lines and the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company
Tramways: the South London tramways of London Transport, all of which were abandoned by 5 July 1952
Travel & Holidays: the travel agents Thomas Cook & Son
Waterways: canals and navigable rivers, mainly taken over from canal companies, like the Grand Union Canal Company, but also including those bought out earlier by the pre-nationalisation railways. The Caledonian Canal was already State-owned. The canals are today run by British Waterways. As well as the canal infrastructure, BTC also managed canal carrying services.
The Commission was permitted to "secure the provision" of road passenger services, although it did not have general powers of compulsory purchase of bus operators. To obtain specific powers of acquisition it had first to draw up, and get approval for, a 'Road Scheme', area by area. Only one was published, the North East Area Road Scheme, though work began on a second scheme, covering East Anglia. The NEARS was never confirmed, as it was fiercely opposed by private and municipal operators.
The structure of Commission and Executives proved to be an obstacle to integration and was largely abolished by the Conservative government with effect from 1 October 1953 (the London Transport Executive alone survived). On 1 January 1955, the railways were re-organised on the basis of six Area Railway Boards, which had executive powers.
Now I would like you to look at the brochure announcing the anniversary celebrations.
Green and Pleasant Land
Looking forward to next years 60th anniversary celebrations of the foundation of the British Transport Commission we must began by looking back at the beginning of the Commission's illustrious history.
The first steps that led to trains travelling the length of the country in under three hours every thirty minutes, carrying most of our bulk goods not traveling on the waterways and taking 90% of people to their places of work every day.
It may seem far fetched to us today but back in 1955 there were people considering extending the experimental electrification of the rail network in the South East to cover the whole country. You may ask how these proponents of electrification could justify this extreme expense when over 70% of the energy produced by the fuel used in the generating stations was lost in resistance in the distribution network, when even the oldest locomotives in use could turn 70% of the heat their boilers produced into kinetic energy and the locomotives produced in the British Railways program of 1951 all approached 90% efficiency. Of course compared to the latest model steam turbines, fired by fluid bed solid fuel, gas and oil, with condensing boilers, these were the last of the dinosaurs from the so called “golden age” of steam power.
British Railway 9F Goods Locomotive developed from the WD 2-10-0 goods engine used by the RASC
Then, of course, the generating stations would shoot all of the pollutants up into the upper atmosphere spreading pollution far more than burning the fuel at the point of use. Also the capital outlay would have been enormous, how they were going to justify this, when the infrastructure to support steam generating vehicles was in place, we can only wonder at.
Looking now at the problems other nations are having in regard to air pollution this is one of the less obvious benefits of maintaining our multi-layered transport system but potentially one of its most valuable. Once it was accepted that transport was going to be achieved by burning non-renewable resources of fossil fuel then it became obvious that it should be done in the most efficient manner.
To do this with the least impact on the environment it became obvious that burning the fuel at the point of use was far more efficient and less harmful to the environment. The apparent lack of pollution from electric vehicles ignored the fact the the electricity was generated by burning fossil fuel. Without the luxury of readily available power from a hydro-electric system the electric trains produced more and, by ejecting it up high from tall chimneys, more harmful pollution.
The main problem of the time taken to get the locomotives up to working pressure was being addressed by the introduction of powdered coal and oil fired boilers which also eased the workload on the engineer or fireman as he used to be called back then, when he was basically a labourer feeding the boiler. Now of course it would be possible one person to operate the locomotive, although no rational company would advocate that practice any more than an aircraft operator would use a one man crew on a transport aeroplane.
The drivers compartment is "leading" the locomotive like all trains today. The fireman was in the middle, but this was only as the first model was coal fired, eventually it was oil fired and the engineer occupied the same cab as the driver. There was a cab at each end so it could be driven in either direction doing away with the need for turntables or turning triangles. Later versions used liquid bed granulated coal, gas or fuel oil and turbines instead of reciprocating engines installed both fitted with condensers. These advances meant drivers no longer had to fire up hours before the Locomotive was required. They could come on duty fire up the loco with a switch and move off in well under an hour.
The phased transfer of RASC rail assets to British Railways over the decade led to an increasing ability to move large loads to within 15 to 20 miles of ANYWHERE in the country. There was not a town or village in the country more than a short journey by road to a railway station.
The organisation of freight and personnel transport handling gained from the supplying of the forces in the recent world war became utilised by British Railways.
The heavier industries that required bulk deliveries were already sited on or near existing waterways so it was obvious to modernise the canal system. Once the chains of barges started moving every 30mins it was irrelevant if they took a day or two to complete their journey 250 tons or more arrived every 30mins. The amount of fuel required to move 250 tons 100miles by water was less than one tenth of that required by rail and one hundredth of that by road.
These figures are taken by the simple comparison of the loads that a horse can move. It can for instance on a hard surfaced highway pull one ton on a wheeled cart. On a permanent way, and the first railways were all horse drawn, they could move ten tons on level ground. But on water in a barge they could easily pull one hundred tons all day without any difficulty.
Horse Drawn Barge
British Road Services together with the private companies Pickfords, Corrals and Charringtons Fuels increased their sitting of depots at railway yards and stations. This formed the final link in the transport chain moving goods around the country.There were railway sidings with access to the road system all over the system dating back to WW1 when vast quantities of munitions and supplies were being transported to the ports for the western front. These became available for general use again by 1950. Large and small haulage and transport companies used these as points of transfer for goods in the initial and final stages of the chain of delivery.
Many industries had their own rail links to the main system and indeed possessed their own rolling stock and even locomotives. By actively encouraging this practice and scheduling trains from these companies into the system the maximum use of the capacity and a high level of efficiency was achieved.
Bulk transport of materials and coal was kept on waterways wherever possible and the only goods that could not travel by water were time sensitive loads and perishables. The transfer of liquid and gas fuels was achieved by an expanding system of underground pipelines from refineries and ports of entry.
The urban transport system did for some time remain powered by electric motive units both trams and light railways above and underground. Then of course the gas fired condensing boiler steam turbine units replaced electric power on the underground rail systems and eventually, after a short flirtation with diesel power, the trams followed suit.
Now of course monorail systems using magnetic support for the carriages and some even with a linear induction power system are being proposed to save space in urban areas. These however are generating there own power locally with small gas fired generators and using the national grid system for emergency backup only.
After the Suez crisis of 1956 Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser initiated a boycott on Arab countries supplying oil to Britain and France in retaliation for the invasion of the canal zone. This prompted the government decided to adopt a policy of minimum reliance on oil as a fuel which compelled the Commission to ensure that the most economical means of transporting people and materials were employed. This required the layered system we enjoy today to be developed to it's full potential.
The Royal Navy at Suez
It is strange to think that back in the late 50s there were plans to build a network of freeways or autobahns similar to the American or European systems in our country. One can only wonder who would have used them if their construction had gone ahead. The amount of fuel you would use and drivers you would have to train and employ to transport say, food for a city, across the country when one trainload with one driver could carry it in one journey would suggest that no commercial enterprise would ever be able to operate economically unless the whole system was altered in some way to load the dice in favour of the transport by road.
As for private motorists who in their right mind would want to sit in a confined box for hours on end to travel when you can put your car on a train at say London and drive off in York in an hour or Edinburgh in three whilst relaxing in comfort and, if time allows, enjoying a meal in the dining car.
In 1958 British Car Hire was formed with offices at main stations at the system and if a vehicle was required when the rail journey was completed it could even be hired in advance and paid for with the ticket. If the journey was to a station without an office with two days notice a car could be made available. This was eventually supplemented by the cycle hire system which was started in the fitness boom after the 1966 world cup victory.
Bearing all of this in mind it would be incomprehensible for anybody to suggest altering the rail infrastructure to make roads a viable option for long distance travel within the UK. Indeed you would have to dismantle half of the rail infrastructure and scrap all of the new build engines from the 1951 construction program to make roads a viable option and who in their right mind would have suggested that back in 1955. Why obviously no government would have considered such an illogical course of action and the electorate would have put them out of office at the very next election if they did carry out these peculiar policies.
The main expense in the formative years of the late 50s and early 60s was of course standardising the loading gauges of all of the lines to allow the latest and most efficient rolling stock and locomotives to have access to all parts of the rail network. This was expensive but not as much as the figures proposed for the electrification of the network.
Comparison of Loading Gauges
This does not even take into account any savings on not building a freeway system far more suited to a large continent rather than a small island. The ability of mainland Europe to rebuild their road system to cope with extremely large loads was of course mainly due to the fact that there was not a major bridge left standing after the second world war. Any bridge that the Allies didn't destroy to hinder the Axis's supplies the Axis destroyed to hinder the Allied advance.
Bielefeld Viaduct
This of course meant that the replacements could and were built to take far heavier loads than their predecessors. This was actively encouraged by NATO and financed by the Marshall Plan. This, just like Hitler's construction of the autobahns, was to enable tanks to be readily transported by road. In Britain it was not necessary to carry out such reconstruction and as we were hardly likely to need to deploy tanks on home soil, rail transport would be perfectly adequate for any military requirement.
Now after this brief précis of the early history of the Commission we must look at its recent achievements. The monorail systems we have mentioned earlier in South and East London, around Birmingham and Manchester have made the daily journey to work shorter and more pleasant for workers living in these areas. This has left more space on the main line trains traveling through and leaving more capacity on the network for transport of goods. The new computerised signaling and and control system has been installed with an independent duplicate to give an instant backup in any failure situation.
After air transport came into the Commissions brief the major aerial developments have of course been the success of the Anglo-French Concorde and the SkyCat lighter than air system.
SkyCat Passenger Shuttle
Concorde
The Post Office has extended its service by sending mail automated using modern rfid technology and clever mechanics for moving packages from one train to the next. This combined with the internet shopping services means that "The Night Mail" is safe into the 21st century "crossing the border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order".
Traveling Post Office of the Royal Mail
Then the largest recent project has been the upgrade and extension of the inland waterways to rationalise bulk transport of goods around the country. This together with the latest generation of vessels has given the Commission more than enough capacity in the transport system to take us well into the next century and beyond.
Falkirk Wheel
This is the latest addition to the canal system in Scotland which raises the boats some 24m joining the Union and the Forth and Clyde canals by replacing the original system of eleven locks.
Finally the ongoing maintenance of the road system has been kept up to date with the creation of more motorail transfer stations across the country to give the traveller more choice. Making it possible now to drive onto a train in Scotland and in less than four hours drive off in France through the Channel tunnel. Then of course those who actively enjoy the motoring experience can move around the country on reasonably clear roads for the foreseeable future.
Finally
Some of the questions people have asked in the thread about road passenger services you can see fall into the broad remit of the Commission and I will be going into that subject in more depth in the future. I still see cars in use but not with families having multiple vehicles. There would just not be the need for every individual to have their own independent means of transport. Most car owners would not use their vehicles to travel to work unless driving was integral with their employment. It would be far more common to hire a vehicle for specific purposes such as a holiday.
As you will see from the TL of G&PL there are a series of small points of divergence gradually building up to quite major changes. Now I have to see what events could have led to the changes I have made.
I have at the suggestion of Thande introduced an outside influence jeopardising the supply of oil to the UK from the middle East. This was a real event in OTL the crisis at Suez. I shall be developing the view from other organisations such as motoring organisations and the Freight Transport Association in future posts. I have been sent some ideas for storylines as well that I hope will be expanded on.
As the policy since 1956 will have been using oil on a last resort and as sparingly as possible, even after the discovery of North Sea oil, air travel will only be used when there is no viable alternative. Subsidies will never happen so nobody will miss them. This would make transcontinental travel less common perhaps putting some traffic back onto ocean liners.I can see the expansion of BTC to include air transport. Air travels virtue will be the obvious one of speed and the BTC (British Transport Commission) actively supported the development of Concorde which became a great success with BOAC.
The Channel tunnel my happen earlier and with the British trains being as advanced as anything abroad there may be exports. Paris will be under two hours from London maybe less. Motorail will be able to get you and your car to anywhere in Europe quicker than fly drive today and you would have your own car to use! Ferries would be used extensively as they still are in OTL. Newhaven, Portsmouth and Southampton car ferry's to France and Northern Spain are usually fully booked up in OTL.
I am hoping that the events in G&PL will point vaguely in the direction we should be moving to improve, that is reduce, the levels of pollution and congestion we are suffering in the urban sprawls developing everywhere we turn. Already some of these actions are belatedly being implemented. The boat lift at Falkirk in Scotland is real the pity of it is it was built for leisure not goods traffic. But British Waterways are now looking into reopening the navigation into East London to reduce the transport problems there for the2012 Olympics.